


Fragile Heart

by Griddlebone



Category: Cats - Andrew Lloyd Webber
Genre: Cross-Generational Friendship, Gen, Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-09-07
Updated: 2012-09-07
Packaged: 2017-11-13 18:21:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 966
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/506358
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Griddlebone/pseuds/Griddlebone
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sometimes one kind gesture is all it takes to ease a hurting heart.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Fragile Heart

There was no escaping it. Asparagus's condition would not improve. The Theatre Cat was simply too old; it was his time, Jennyanydots said. Surely he would be chosen to ascend to the Heavyside Layer soon, before he could suffer too much.

Jellylorum bit her tongue to keep from making a scene. She had fled the junkyard after Jennyanydots's proclamation, unable to bear the presence of her fellow Jellicles any longer. While she was fairly sure that this far from the junkyard there would be no one around to see or complain, it would have been terribly inelegant, and a disservice to her beloved Asparagus, to boot. It just made her so angry... the way they pretended he wasn't suffering already, that they couldn't see the way he was wasting away, how the palsy shook his paws and tail.

He was a shadow of the cat who had raised her, who had taught her everything she knew. There was very little left of the tom she loved so much.

It wasn't fair.

It wasn't fair that so many of the other Jellicles lived into healthy old age, encountering far fewer problems than Asparagus. It wasn't fair that so many of the younger generation were unconcerned with the old Theatre Cat's well-being. They even called him mean, or surly! They had just never bothered with getting to know him, that was all.

She shook her head in a vain attempt to clear the frustration away. "Stop it, Jelly," she admonished herself. "Anger will achieve nothing."

And since she had entirely failed to watch where she was going, she walked right into another cat without even seeing him. Jellylorum stammered an apology even as strong paws steadied her, and looked up... into the face of Rum Tum Tugger.

"You okay?" he asked. "I gotta admit, I never pegged you for the looney type."

He was absolutely the last cat she wanted to see today. She would have even preferred Macavity. At least she knew of a certainty that Macavity would be cruel or violent; one never knew what the capricious - and annoying - Rum Tum Tugger was going to do next. And since he was both extremely popular and incapable of discretion, she had no doubt that word of this would get around to the rest of the tribe in short order.

"I am not 'looney'," she bit out. "I am _upset_."

He frowned. As much as he tried to hide it, and loathe though she might be to admit it, there was a good heart lurking beneath that devil-may-care facade of his. "What about?"

She strongly considered informing him - in her snootiest diva tone - that it was none of his business. But since this was Rum Tum Tugger she was talking to, she knew that her actions would be the source of tribe gossip for days after this. And she would not shame herself nor Asparagus by acting childishly. "Asparagus is getting worse," she answered honestly. "And I can't do anything to help him or ease his suffering."

"I'm sorry," he said. He actually sounded serious.

Taken aback, she protested, "I should get back."

To Asparagus, to the theatre, to the junkyard... she wasn't sure. But she simply could not deal with Rum Tum Tugger today. If that meant he would tell the rest of the queens, laughingly, that she was a coward, then so be it.

But nothing ever came of it. Nothing was said of it. When the gossip made its rounds and finally came back to Jellylorum, there was no mention of her in it at all. Life went on, much the same as it had for the past few months. Jellylorum settled into a new routine with the ailing Asparagus, a routine that included a lot more time spent assisting the elderly tom in his duties about the theatre, and a lot fewer social calls to the junkyard.

Gus was simply too frail. Whether he was granted ascension to the Heavyside Layer or not, the coming Jellicle Ball would be his last.

Jellylorum felt her heart break as she helped Asparagus hobble the distance to the junkyard for that final Ball. While it was an easy enough trip for the younger cats, or even the likes of Jennyanydots or Deuteronomy, it was a struggle for Gus. She was too conflicted for small talk, and he was too winded, so they arrived at the junkyard in silence. And late. But that could not be helped.

She was every bit as baffled as Asparagus to find that the Jellicles had waited for them. Even moreso when Asparagus was announced as the guest of honor. The party was all for him: songs in his honor, reenactments of his greatest roles (Growltiger! Firefrorfiddle!). And when the Jellicle Moon at last descended from its place in the heavens, it was Asparagus that Deuteronomy escorted to the wonders of the Heavyside.

And even though the surprising show of kindness made her want to weep, even though she watched him with a newfound curiosity, Rum Tum Tugger made no attempt to take any credit for what he had done. And there was no doubt in her mind that it was he who had rallied the Jellicles around the tom who had once been the tribe's pride and joy, and had inspired them all into creating one last hurrah for the aging Theatre Cat.

And even though Rum Tum Tugger was every bit the shameless flirt he usually was, Jellylorum couldn't find it in her heart to be annoyed with his antics or the way the young queens carried on. Instead, though she couldn't bring herself to show it, she wondered if he knew just how much comfort his actions had brought to her hurting heart.

Somehow, she had a feeling he did.


End file.
